San Diego/Denver
 

Wow what an ending. A bitter pill to swallow for Charger fan. What do you football guys think of the "fumble"?

I don't think there is much to say other than the call was missed, and it happens. If it happens in the 1st quarter, no one says anything about it. After the review, Hochuli said it was a fumble, but that posession stayed with Den. since the whistle was blown. Everyone on here has made a mistake, and this is just proof that it happens to one of the best.

It was a fumble.

However, give credit to Ed Hochuli for admitting to Coach Turner the error he made by blowing the play dead too soon.

But, did you see Turner after the game saying that Hochuli told him that it was his mistake and Turner said that was unacceptable. This is why you have officials not admit their mistakes. Turner just through Ed's honesty and humility back in his face.

Turner's a coach. There's a natural animosity there.

I'm sure given a day to get away from the heat of the moment, Turner will understand, though he'll still think it sucks (obviously, it does).

I'm sure there are those in and out of our profession who will either take great glee in the fact that the big Ed Hochuli kicked one or who will feel it's more in line with their world view that all officials suck. But I can guarantee you that nobody's plane ride home tonight was as bad as Ed Hochuli's.

It can happen to any of us. How we handle it is the key.

...which sucks because he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. I admire Ed for admitting his mistake. It takes guts. There's nothing that aggravates coaches more than when BOTH the coach and official know the official blew the call and the official makes up some ruling to save his butt that clearly didn't happen.

Don't pi$$ on a coach's head and tell him it's raining... Ed man'ed up to his mistake- it's just unfortunate that Turner threw it back in his face like that.

Yep...Ed is still and will be one of the best officials in the NFL...he made a mistake, he admitted it...he was a man about it...and I bet he's able to move on...but yes, probably a pretty crappy plane ride back to AZ.

It is too bad that Turner had to do that back Ed after the game at the press conference. And I agree, that is why most officials do not own up to their mistakes.

As for Turner realizing his comment about Ed might have been out of line, I am not holding my hopes on that, because of that being the way Turner conducts himself at press conferences.

Can anyone tell me what this means anyways? They say stuff like this and it's just anger talking I guess. I think everybody is pretty much on the same page in that mistakes aren't a good thing. What's unacceptable? The apology? So not admitting the mistake would be? Are you saying you want a do over? What?

I think he is saying he wants there to be some perfect system that will fix everything. Maybe he should talk to Michael J. Fox and see if he can borrow that time machine thingy so we can take everyone back to the same precise moment the mistake was made and then not make it.

What's the alternative? Ed H. doesn't admit the mistake and Turner watches the film on Monday and sees it's a mistake, accompanied by a message from the league admitting that the call was wrong. Now Turner goes off saying Ed H. won't admit to his mistakes.

What's the Referee supposed to do is this situation? He saw it as an incomplete pass. It turned out it was a fumble. Possession calls like this are commonly overturned when reviewed.

The problem was the whistle. Then again, what do you do when you rule a pass is incomplete?

I'm probably mistaken but I thought the NFL made a change a couple of years back to disregard the whistle on the field when there was a question about a fumble.

REPLY: They did, but I think that rule was only with regards to a whistle that signalled a player down (by contact). It may not have anticipated an incomplete pass/fumble scenario. And, I believe that rule requires that the whistle is ignored only if a recovery takes place immediately following the whistle. They can't ignore it indefinitely.

You really can't win in this situation. You want to protect the QB so you're give a strong whistle to let everyone know the play is over but then replay shows it was a fumble. The other option is to hold off on the whistle if there's any doubt and risk having the QB injured while the ball is loose.

Besides, Ed Hoc will most likely tell you that he was sure it was a pass.

Turner's a mediocre coach whose lackluster career got rewarded with YET ANOTHER head coaching gig. In terms of credibility, Hochuli has quite a bit more than Turner will ever have.

True. The alternative is to find a perfect official -- one who cannot possibly err -- to replace the fallible ones the NFL currently hires. Oh, wait, that's not possible...

NFL officials rarely make mistakes. When they do, it rarely affects the outcome. The Chargers and their fans are understandably upset and feel a sense of injustice after this low probability event.

But reason needs to trump those feelings, and they need to get over it, knowing that the officiating and rules systems in place are the best the league knows how to produce, given human fallibility. Anything more is just whinging.